Meet the Indiana Boy Who Charmed Trump With Hug After President Signed 'Right to Try' Law

Jordan McLinn has a form of muscular dystrophy.

The 8-year-old boy who requested a hug from President Trump is revealing how the situation that warmed hearts across the country came about. 

Inside Edition caught up with young Jordan McLinn and his mom, Laura.

Jordan, who is from Vice President Mike Pence's home state of Indiana, battles muscular dystrophy and was present as Trump signed the "Right to Try Act" into law Wednesday. 

The legislation allows patients with terminal illnesses access to experimental drugs and treatments not yet approved by the FDA. 

After Trump signed the act into law, the little boy tried a few times to hug the president. 

"So Jordan did go in for the hug, just to say thank you, and the president didn't really realize it, so it took like three times, but Jordan didn't give up on that hug," his mom told Inside Edition. "It was the sweetest thing. It was kind of like a grandpa just reaching down and giving the most natural, the sweetest hug ever."

Jordan has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative genetic disease. Children are generally wheelchair bound by age 12 and are not expected to live past 25.

Jordan says the president was envious of one thing, telling Inside Edition, "He said he wanted my hair."

"If I had that head of hair, I would've been president so long ago," Trump told the boy during the meeting. 

RELATED STORIES

Latest News